old rush rocker

[cee_jay]

Hi all! I found a rush rocker at a yard sale and fell in love with it.
I am taking a class for caning and rush work so I was so excited when I found this chair.
I cant seem to make out the label.
other than it was made in Cincinnati.
Thanks a Ton!!

[KC]

This plate could have been put on by the store selling it!  Most mfrs wouldn't put "on the parkway"....

Anyone else?

[mariok54]

Looks like 'Aline & Joefke' or 'Soefke' .. What do others think?

[KC]

There are Amish stores in the area......

[cee_jay]

Yes, there are a few of the amish stores.

[Oceans64]

How old do you think this chair is? If you think it is very early...  Keep in mind that in old style writing an "s" was written in such a way that it looks like our cursive "f" of today.  I believe it ended around the late 1700's.  It is hard to read..

ETA: Also the "s" at the end of the word (as in the first word here) would look more like a traditional "s" in old style writing. 

[cee_jay]

would you like a better picture of the label?
and on the back of the seat it is put tog eather with almost a tongue and grove, or dove tail
I can take a picture of that also, if it would help.

[KC]

If you can't get a better pic of the label....is it raised lettering?  If so, do a rubbing!

[Oceans64]

Check out this link...  Its not a rocker but it looks very similar - particularly the arms.  Author calls it a "sack back" since sacks were placed over the back of the chairs to keep out drafts in the winter.  AKA Sack-Back Windsor chair.  They were very popular in the 1780-1790's.  Does it look like yours started life as a rocker? I know many times they were fashioned from a widely available chair.  Otherwise, there are several makers listed on the article below. Perhaps they were also shipping rockers.

http://www.bobdillonwindsorchairs.com/sackback.htm

"The arm was typically made up of a single, steam-bent piece of wood; but sometimes a sawn arm was used, pieced together from three parts: two arms joined by a central arm-crest. Sawn arms usually had carved knuckle hands, as did some bent arms. "

On the other hand.... 

I found the above link from this site: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Collectibles-General-Antiques-682/2010/10/identify-Windsor-chair.htm Again, it's not a Rocker but the author indicates that reproductions of the chairs were made in the Depression Era (1930's).

[KC]

Okay, does any of this help?

"Some letters in old handwriting are often difficult to recognize or are commonly confused because of curls and flourishes, plus the differences in old style writing and modern day writing style. This may cause errors in transcriptions taken from old handwriting, making it important that you understand these commonly confused letters in order to account for possible surname variations when searching for your ancestors. For example, the letters I and J were often used interchangeably and often appear identical. The old style S often appeared as f or p, especially when followed by a second s. This is apparent in commonly mis-transcribed words such as Jefse and Jepe for Jesse. Therefore, when searching for surnames, please keep in possible transcription errors in mind. To aid you in your search, here are a few of the most commonly confused letters in old handwriting transcriptions.
.
Commonly Confused Upper Case Letters
F - H       J - I       K - R       S - L       O - Q       P - R       U - V       W - M, UU
Commonly Confused Lower Case Letters
b - f       d - el       j - i       k - t       s - l       t - c       ss - fs, ps       w - vv       y - g

[Oceans64]

I have a subsrciption to GenealogyBank and they have a database of old newspapers...  In the Feb 24th, 1929 edition of the "Cleveland Plain Dealer", page 17A there is an advertisement for a new ironing invention call the Thor Speed Iron. There is a list of companies near the advertisement that are distributing this monster of an iron and one in Ohio is called....

The Alms & Deopke Co...  on the Parkway

So that's my guess...  

I'll try to post a pic in a bit.

ETA:  Having problems saving the pic since they frown on that sort of thing at Genealogy Bank.  Really nothing to see, just one line listing their name, Cincinnati, and "on the Parkway". (I'll keep trying for Ironlord - screenshot maybe)  However...  When you Google the name, you will find VERY, VERY cool info.  I will be interested to know how much (if anything) it will add to value of the chair...

ETA again: I figured it out. Here are the pics of the advertisement in 3 parts. Probably only interesting to fans of ironing    On the 3rd pic you can look under Cincinnati and see the company name but again probably not that interesting considering the history of the building.







And..  In case you were wondering, this was a….



JK!!!!  Thought it was a great ad and was on the same page  

[ironlord1963]

Thor Speed Iron, wow sounds intresting can't wait to see this.

[Oceans64]

hahaha!  I just read the "Speed Iron" ad for the first time and am resisting a line by line commentary!!!  It's HILARIOUS!!!!

[ironlord1963]

    Cool Stuff Ocean, Seems pretty expensive for that day and age.  Can get a modern Iron for $20.00.  But who need a iron now day, my speed Iron is wear my wrinkly clothes for a hour or so and no more Wrinkle    ( Bohemian Way ) 

[Sara Finn]

Hmmm... I don't know the store/manufacturer/etc. as described on the tag in your posted image cee_jay, but if you'd include it & an image of the whole chair via email (not from a phone/blackberry) to Mr. Fred Taylor at 'info@furnaturedetective.com', you might just get the info you seek.

I'm of the opinion that your chair is early 20th century (from your pics), though.

Cool old windsor-ish chair!